The basic salary will definitely be over 800 euros with an increase that can exceed 50 euros per month.
The minister clarifies that improvements will be made to the EAS deductions for pensions as injustices are found with pensioners who instead of increases see reductions, while emphasizing that working pensioners after the abolition of the pension reduction penalty by 30%, earn between 190 and 300 euros per month.
Regarding the unemployment benefit, it states that it will become more remunerative so that those who have paid more contributions are entitled to a larger amount, while its proportion will also change so that the benefit is higher in the first months of unemployment.
Minister, are we going for a 50 euro increase in the minimum wage? What additional percentage will your proposal incorporate besides inflation?
You will have to be patient for a few days. All I can share with you, right now, is that the new minimum wage will be ahead of 8. And be sure that the new increase in the minimum wage will satisfy the workers because it takes into account not only inflation but also the figures of the Greek economy, such as the rate of growth, competitiveness, the estimated increase in productivity, employment, etc.
This is the fourth consecutive increase in the last four years, where the minimum and average wages have increased by 20%. More than 310,000 Greek men and women came out of unemployment and are currently working. Six out of 10 of our fellow citizens, in the private sector, are now paid with salaries of 1,000-3,000 euros and only 2 out of 10 with a salary of up to 700 euros. This shows us that the implemented economic policy brings results and improves the labor market and the standard of living of Greek men and women.
Can you explain the changes you are planning to unemployment benefit with an example? If we have two unemployed people, one with a salary of 830 euros and 2 years of insurance and the other with 1,500 euros and 20 years and an unemployment benefit of 508 euros, how much more will the employee with the most years get?
What we seek, with the proposed reform, is to make the unemployment benefit remunerative. That is, fairer. To be linked to the years of work and the contributions paid by the beneficiary and not to equate the unemployed with 2 years of insurance and the unemployed with 20 years of insurance. This means that the unemployment benefit recipient who has paid higher contributions during his working life will receive a higher unemployment benefit. Also, what we are considering is that the unemployment benefit should be front-loaded, that is, in the first months the beneficiary should receive a higher amount. Of course, the changes we are working on will not affect the total amount of the annual allowance, i.e. it will not be lower than what is granted today, but they will make this benefit more fair.
The Pensioner Solidarity Contribution (EAS) causes distortions, with the most typical being the one I am describing to you and the ministry’s services can check: A pensioner who received a gross pension of 1,695 euros, and 1,545 euros before tax, after the 3% increase received 1,745 euros gross, but 1,542 euros before tax due to EAS. The question of the wronged pensioners is this: When will the EAS change so that they have no reductions despite the increases?
THEAs you know, the Pensioner Solidarity Contribution (EAS) finances the Generation Solidarity Insurance Fund (AKAGE) and was created as a bulwark of the insurance system against the pressures of the demographic aging of the population. And demographic aging is a reality that affects, among other things, the insurance system and we must manage it with an eye on future generations.
This does not mean that we do not recognize that there are some points in the Pensioner Solidarity Contribution (EAS) that need improvement. Our concern is that they are cured in the light of course of the fiscal balance.
Are you considering providing an additional incentive for those pensioners who are hiding it to declare their employment despite the abolition of the 30% reduction in their pension? For example, what is the use of paying double sickness contributions or the 10 euros of unemployment?
We have open eyes, open ears and above all open minds, so that we always listen and act with the benefit of our fellow citizens in mind. But nothing is written in stone. However, it is premature to talk, at this moment, about new changes in the regulation of pensioners’ employment, especially at a time when the data so far are more than encouraging.
Already within a couple of weeks, from the moment the electronic platform for working pensioners was opened, more than 37,000 of our retired fellow citizens who work – before the operation of the platform, only 36,000 retired workers had made a statement – have applied. Pensioners now receive 100% of their pension instead of the previous 70%, while a resource of 10% is withheld from their salary. We estimate that the retired employee earns between 190 and 300 euros per month.
The acceptance of the measure and the attendance of retired workers on the platform show us that the policy we are implementing is correct and meets the needs of retired workers.
“They do not exist magical recipes but politics stopping it problem”
What measures are you planning to deal with the country’s demographic problem and how sufficient are the ones you have already launched (increase in birth allowance, extension of maternity allowance)?
Demographic aging is an existential bet for our future. This is the reality and we must face it if we are to face it and manage its consequences. There are no magic recipes. But there are answers. As an example, I mention the connection of education and professional training programs with the needs of the labor market. Today in our country, new jobs are being created for highly skilled workers that are difficult to fill. This element highlights the need to readjust vocational education, secondary and tertiary, as well as the social programs of training and retraining of workers with the aim of upgrading specific skills, as well as the unemployed who will facilitate finding a job. In this direction, the training programs implemented by DYPA have been designed, utilizing the resources of the Resilience and Development Fund, such as, for example, the program for 150,000 workers and 120,000 unemployed in digital and green skills.
Another important intervention is the establishment of the Subsidiary and Capitalization Insurance Fund – TEKA. European and international experience has shown that the capitalization of the supplementary security that we have implemented mitigates the demographic pressures and increases the security of the capital created with the contributions of the insured. Of course I cannot fail to mention the birth allowance and the extension of the maternity allowance to all working women in the private sector. Now both self-employed women and female farmers can receive the minimum wage for 9 months.
These policies are the foundation on which we build in order to arrest the demographic problem. But the battle is unequal and requires the state, businesses and citizens to be allies. However, the first step towards addressing the problem has been taken.
#injustices #EAS #pensions #corrected